Semiconductor device manufacturing platform with single and twinned processing chambers

ABSTRACT

A transfer chamber for semiconductor device manufacturing includes (1) a plurality of sides that define a region configured to maintain a vacuum level and allow transport of substrates between processing chambers, the plurality of sides defining a first portion and a second portion of the transfer chamber and including (a) a first side that couples to two twinned processing chambers; and (b) a second side that couples to a single processing chamber; (2) a first substrate handler located in the first portion of the transfer chamber; (3) a second substrate handler located in the second portion of the transfer chamber; and (4) a hand-off location configured to allow substrates to be passed between the first portion and the second portion of the transfer chamber using the first and second substrate handlers. Method aspects are also provided.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a divisional of, and claims priority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/180,954, filed Feb. 14, 2014, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/778,206, filed Mar. 12, 2013, each titled “SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE MANUFACTURING PLATFORM WITH SINGLE AND TWINNED PROCESSING CHAMBERS,” and each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for all purposes.

FIELD

The present invention relates to semiconductor device manufacturing, and more specifically to a semiconductor device manufacturing platform with single and twinned processing chambers.

BACKGROUND

Manufacturing of semiconductor devices typically involves performing a sequence of procedures with respect to a substrate or “wafer” such as a silicon substrate, a glass plate, etc. These steps may include polishing, deposition, etching, photolithography, heat treatment, and so forth. Usually a number of different processing steps may be performed in a single processing system or “tool” which includes a plurality of processing chambers or “reactors”. To reduce semiconductor device manufacturing costs, methods and apparatus for improving efficiency and/or reducing cost of operation of processing tools are desired.

SUMMARY

In some embodiments, a transfer chamber configured for use during semiconductor device manufacturing is provided. The transfer chamber includes (1) a plurality of sides that define a region configured to maintain a vacuum level and allow transport of substrates between a plurality of processing chambers, the plurality of sides defining a first portion of the transfer chamber and a second portion of the transfer chamber and including (a) a first side that couples to two twinned processing chambers; and (b) a second side that couples to a single processing chamber. The transfer chamber also includes (2) a first substrate handler located in the first portion of the transfer chamber; (3) a second substrate handler located in the second portion of the transfer chamber; and (4) a hand-off location configured to allow substrates to be passed between the first portion of the transfer chamber and the second portion of the transfer chamber using the first substrate handler and the second substrate handler.

In some embodiments, a method is provided that includes (a) providing a transfer chamber having a plurality of sides that define a region configured to maintain a vacuum level and allow transport of substrates between a plurality of processing chambers, the plurality of sides defining a first portion of the transfer chamber and a second portion of the transfer chamber and including a first side coupled to two twinned processing chambers and a second side coupled to a single processing chamber; a first substrate handler located in the first portion of the transfer chamber; a second substrate handler located in the second portion of the transfer chamber; and a hand-off location configured to allow substrates to be passed between the first portion of the transfer chamber and the second portion of the transfer chamber using the first substrate handler and the second substrate handler; (b) loading a first substrate into the transfer chamber employing the first substrate handler; (c) transferring the first substrate to the hand-off location; (d) retrieving the first substrate from the hand-off location with the second substrate handler; (e) loading a second substrate into the transfer chamber employing the first substrate handler; and (f) simultaneously loading the first and second substrates into the twinned processing chambers coupled to the first side of the transfer chamber using the first and second substrate handlers.

In some embodiments, a transfer chamber configured for use during semiconductor device manufacturing is provided. The transfer chamber includes (1) a plurality of sides that define a region configured to maintain a vacuum level and allow transport of substrates between a plurality of processing chambers, the plurality of sides including (a) a first, elongated side that couples to two twinned processing chambers; (b) a second side that couples to a single processing chamber; and (c) a third side that couples to a load lock chamber. The transfer chamber also includes (2) an extended-reach substrate handler located in the transfer chamber and configured to transport substrates between the load lock chamber, twinned processing chambers and single processing chamber; and (3) a hand-off location configured to provide on or more of a transfer location, substrate storage, chuck cover storage, cool-down, substrate heating, pre-processing and post-processing. Numerous other embodiments are provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates a top schematic view of an example processing tool provided in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a partial cross-sectional view of the hand-off locations of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top schematic view of another example processing tool provided in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method of operating the processing tool of FIG. 1 in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a semiconductor device manufacturing platform, such as a tool and/or mainframe, is provided that may allow both single processing chambers and dual or “twinned” processing chambers to be employed. Twinned processing chambers may provide reduced operation costs by sharing resources such as chemical and/or gas delivery, process control, and the like. In some embodiments, the manufacturing platform may support up to six processing chambers with either two or four of the processing chambers being twinned. Other configurations may be employed.

In one or more embodiments, hand-off locations are provided within the tool that allows substrates to be passed from one portion of the tool to another portion of the tool. In some embodiments, these hand-off locations may provide active pre- and/or post-processing. These and other embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 1 is a top schematic view of an example processing tool 100 provided in accordance with embodiments of the invention. With reference to FIG. 1, the tool 100 includes a transfer chamber 102 having a plurality of sides 104 a-104 h (forming an octagonal shaped transfer chamber). Other shapes and/or numbers of sides may be employed (e.g., forming a closed polygon).

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, sides 104 a and 104 d are elongated to allow coupling of twinned processing chambers 106 a, 106 b along side 104 a and twinned processing chambers 108 a, 108 b along side 104 d. Other configurations may be employed, such as coupling non-twinned or “single” processing chambers along the side 104 a and/or 104 d. In some embodiments, the lengths for the elongated sides 104 a, 104 d of transfer chamber 102 that couple to twinned processing chambers may be about 1100 mm to about 2500 mm. Other lengths may be employed for the elongated sides 104 a and/or 104 d.

Twinned processing chambers 106 a, 106 a may share resources such as chemical and/or gas delivery, process control, and the like (indicated generally by reference numeral 110). For example, such processing chambers may perform the same process recipe on two substrates simultaneously in some embodiments. Similarly, twinned processing chambers 108 a, 108 b may share resources such as chemical and/or gas delivery, process control, and the like (indicated generally by reference numeral 112).

Single processing chambers 114 and/or 116 may be coupled to sides 104 b and/or 104 c of transfer chamber 102. In some embodiments, the lengths of the sides 104 b, 104 c of transfer chamber 102 to which single processing chambers couple may be about 550 mm to about 2500 mm. Other lengths for the sides 104 b and/or 104 c may be employed. Single processing chambers typically employ their own resources such as chemical and/or gas delivery, process control, etc. (not shown). Fewer or more processing chambers may be coupled to the transfer chamber 102.

In some embodiments, load lock chambers 118 a, 118 b may couple to sides 104 f, 104 g of transfer chamber 102, respectively. Load lock chambers 118 a, 118 b allow substrates to be supplied to transfer chamber 102 from substrate carriers 120 a, 120 b via a factory interface 122. Load lock chambers 118 a, 118 b may be, for example, batch load locks, stacked single substrate load locks or other suitable load locks.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the transfer chamber 102 includes two substrate handlers 124 a, 124 b for transferring substrates to and from the load locks 118 a, 118 b, and to and from one or more of the processing chambers 106 a, 106 b, 108 a, 108 b, 114 and/or 116. For example, first substrate handler 124 a may transfer substrates to and/or from one or more of the load locks 118 a, 118 b and processing chambers 106 a, 108 a (within a first portion 126 a of transfer chamber 102); and second substrate handler 124 b may transfer substrates to and/or from one or more of processing chambers 106 b, 108 b, 114 and 116 (within a second portion 126 b of transfer chamber 102). Substrate handlers 124 a, 124 b may be single or dual blade robots, for example, that carry one or more substrates.

Substrates may be passed between first and second portions 126 a, 126 b of transfer chamber 102 through use of one or more hand-off locations 128 a, 128 b. While two hand-off locations are shown in FIG. 1, it will be understood that fewer or more hand-off locations may be employed (e.g., 1, 3, 4, 5, etc.). To transfer a substrate from the first portion 126 a of transfer chamber 102 to the second portion 126 b of transfer chamber 102, the first substrate handler 124 a may place the substrate on hand-off location 128 a or 128 b and the second substrate handler 124 b may retrieve the substrate from the hand-off location 128 a or 128 b. The reverse process may be performed to transfer substrates from the second portion 126 b to the first portion 126 a of the transfer chamber 102.

A controller 130 may be employed to control operation of the processing tool 100. For example, controller 130 may control substrate transfers to, from and/or within the processing tool 100, operation of one or more of the processing chambers 106 a, 106 b, 108 a, 108 b, 114, 116, operation of load locks 118 a, 118 b, etc. Controller 130 may be an appropriately programmed microprocessor or microcontroller, hardware circuitry, a combination thereof, etc. The controller 130 may contain computer program code for performing any of the methods described herein.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the hand-off locations 128 a, 128 b of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1. Hand-off locations 128 a, 128 b may include pedestals or supports 200 a, 200 b for supporting a substrate being transferred between substrate handlers 124 a and 124 b. In the embodiment shown, the supports 200 a, 200 b are positioned near a bottom of transfer chamber 102. However, the supports 200 a, 200 b may be positioned at any other location such as in the middle or at the top of transfer chamber 102 and/or at different locations. Other numbers of hand-off locations and/or supports may be employed (e.g., 1, 3, 4, 5, etc.).

Supports 200 a, 200 b may be formed from glass, aluminum, ceramic or another suitable material. If desired, lift pins (not shown) may be employed to raise and/or lower substrates relative to the supporting surface of supports 200 a, 200 b.

In some embodiments, hand-off locations 128 a, 128 b may include processing regions 202 a and 202 b configured to perform one or more processes on substrates within the hand-off locations 128 a, 128 b. Example processes include pre- and/or post processing such as degas, annealing, cool down, plasma treatment, or the like. Other processes and/or numbers of processing regions 202 a and 202 b may be employed.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the processing regions 202 a, 202 b are positioned at an elevation above the supports 200 a, 200 b. In other embodiments, the processing regions 202 a, 202 b may be located below the supports 200 a, 200 b or at another suitable elevation relative to the supports 200 a, 200 b.

In some embodiments, processing regions 202 a, 202 b may include heaters 204 a, 204 b for heating substrates loaded into the processing regions 202 a, 202 b. Lift pins 206 a, 206 b may be employed to lower substrates onto and/or lifting substrates from the heaters 204 a, 204 b, respectively (e.g., with linear or other motors 208 a, 208 b).

In one or more embodiments, shields 210 a, 210 b may be employed to isolate the environment within the processing regions 202 a, 202 b from other portions of the transfer chamber 102. For example, the shields 210 a, 210 b may be formed from a metal such as aluminum, stainless steel or any other suitable material. If desired, the shields 210 a and 210 b may form a vacuum seal between the heaters 204 a, 204 b and the remainder of transfer chamber 102 and/or form a separately controllable environment. The shields 210 a, 210 b may be raised and/or lowered to allow substrates to be placed within and/or removed from processing regions 202 a, 202 b, such as by motors 212 a, 212 b, for example.

Each processing region 202 a, 202 b may include separate controls 214 a, 214 b for controlling operation of the heaters 204 a, 204 b, motors 208 a, 208 b, 212 a, 212 b, and/or delivery of any processing gasses or other resources/utilities to processing regions 202 a, 202 b. In some embodiments, all or a portion of the controls 214 a, 214 b may be implemented by controller 130 of processing tool 100.

In general, hand-off location 128 a, 128 b may be employed for substrate hand-off operations, substrate storage, chuck cover storage, cool-down, substrate heating, active pre- or post-processing, etc.

In operation, substrates may be delivered to the processing tool 100 via substrate carriers 120 a and 120 b at factory interface 122. A robot or other substrate handler (not shown) within the factory interface 122 may extract a substrate from one of the substrate carriers 120 a, 120 b and deliver the substrate to load lock 118 a or 118 b. Substrate handler 124 a then may extract the substrate and transfer the substrate to a desired location. For example, the substrate may be transferred to a hand-off location 128 a, 128 b for pre-processing and/or to processing chamber 106 a or 108 a. If the substrate is placed in the hand-off location 128 a, 128 b, the substrate may be returned to the first substrate handler 124 a or transferred to second substrate handler 124 b for processing within one or more of the processing chambers 106 b, 108 b, 114 and/or 116.

Controller 130 may be programmed to control operation of and/or substrate transfers by substrate handlers 124 a, 124 b, as well as pre- and post-processing within hand-off locations 128 a, 128 b (if employed). In some embodiments, substrate transfers by substrate handlers 124 a, 124 b may be synchronized to simultaneously load and/or unload substrates from twinned processing chambers 106 a, 106 b and/or 108 a, 108 b.

As stated, twinned processing chambers 106 a, 106 b and 108 a, 108 b may share resources and thus are less expensive to operate. In some embodiments, these twinned processing chambers may employ lower throughput processes such as epitaxial grown, etch, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), or the like. Single processing chambers 114, 116 may employ higher throughput processes, and/or may be larger-sized processing chambers or processing chambers not well suited for twinned operation. Examples of processes that may be employed within single processing chambers 114, 116 include physical vapor deposition (PVD), rapid thermal processing (RTP), epitaxial growth, or the like.

In some embodiments, one of the load lock chambers 118 a, 118 b may be replaced with an additional processing chamber. Substrates may then enter and exit the processing tool 100 through a single load lock chamber.

FIG. 3 is a top schematic view of an example processing tool 300 provided in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The processing tool 300 is similar to the processing tool 100 of FIG. 1, with substrate handlers 124 a, 124 b of processing tool 100 replaced with a single substrate handler 302 as shown in FIG. 3. In some embodiments, the single substrate handler 302 may be an extended reach robot having a reach sufficient to transfer substrates between all of the load lock chambers 118 a, 118 b and processing chambers 106 a, 106 b, 108 a, 108 b, 114 and 116. For example, the substrate handler 302 may be an off-axis substrate handler, a substrate handler with an extended boom 304 (as shown in FIG. 3), or the like. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, the substrate handler 302 is a dual blade robot with blades 306 a, 306 b that may simultaneously transport two substrates. Fewer or more blades may be employed.

The processing tool 300 may operate similar to the processing tool 100 of FIG. 1. For example, substrates may be processed simultaneously in twinned processing chambers 106 a, 106 b and/or 108 a, 108 b and/or pre- or post-processed in hand-off locations 128 a, 128 b. For example, substrates may be loaded sequentially into twinned processing chambers 106 a, 106 b and 108 a, 108 b in some embodiments. As stated, hand-off locations 128 a, 128 b may be employed for substrate hand-off operations, substrate storage, chuck cover storage, cool-down, substrate heating, active pre- or post-processing, etc.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example method 400 of operating the processing tool 100 of FIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 4, in Block 401 a first substrate is loaded into transfer chamber 102 using first substrate handler 124 a. In Block 402 the first substrate is transferred to one of the hand-off locations 128 a or 128 b. In some embodiments, the first substrate may be pre-processed while at the hand-off location 128 a or 128 b, such as by performing a degas or other process on the substrate.

In Block 403 the second substrate handler 124 b may retrieve the first substrate from the hand-off location 128 a or 128 b. Before, during or after Block 403, the first substrate handler 124 a may load a second substrate into the transfer chamber 102 (Block 404). In some embodiments, the second substrate may be pre-processed at a hand-off location 128 a or 128 b, such as by performing a degas or other process on the substrate.

In Block 405, the first and second substrates are loaded into the twinned processing chambers 106 a, 106 b by substrate handlers 124 a and 124 b. In some embodiments this transfer may be performed simultaneously. For example, controller 130 may direct substrate handlers 124 a and 124 b to simultaneously load the substrates into the twinned processing chambers 106 a, 106 b for (simultaneous) processing. In other embodiments the substrates may be (initially) transferred to the twinned processing chambers 108 a, 108 b.

Following processing within the twinned processing chambers 106 a, 106 b, the first and/or second substrate may be stored, post-processed, or the like within one of the hand-off locations 128 a or 128 b and/or transferred to other processing chambers for further processing. The processing tool 300 of FIG. 3 may operate similarly with regard to use of the hand-off locations 128 a and/or 128 b.

The present invention has been disclosed in connection with example embodiments thereof. It should be understood that other embodiments may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A transfer chamber configured for use during semiconductor device manufacturing, comprising: a plurality of sides that define a region configured to maintain a vacuum level and allow transport of substrates between a plurality of processing chambers, the plurality of sides including: a first elongated side that couples to two twinned processing chambers; a second side that couples to a single processing chamber; and a third side that couples to a load lock chamber; an extended-reach substrate handler located in the transfer chamber and configured to transport substrates between the load lock chamber, the two twinned processing chambers, and the single processing chamber; and a hand-off location configured to provide one or more of a transfer location, substrate storage, chuck cover storage, cool-down, substrate heating, pre-processing, and post-processing.
 2. The transfer chamber of claim 1 wherein the plurality of sides from a closed polygon shape.
 3. The transfer chamber of claim 1 wherein the hand-off location is configured to allow substrates to be passed between first and second portions of the transfer chamber at a first elevation and to provide one or more of the cool-down, substrate heating, pre-processing, and post-processing at a second elevation that is different than the first elevation.
 4. The transfer chamber of claim 3 wherein the second elevation is above the first elevation.
 5. The transfer chamber of claim 1 wherein the extended-reach substrate handler comprises an off-axis handler.
 6. The transfer chamber of claim 1 wherein the extended-reach substrate handler comprises an extended boom.
 7. The transfer chamber of claim 1 wherein the extended-reach substrate handler comprises a dual blade robot operative to simultaneously transport two substrates.
 8. The transfer chamber of claim 1 further comprising a fourth elongated side that couples to two twinned processing chambers, the fourth elongated side opposite the first elongated side.
 9. The transfer chamber of claim 1 further comprising a fifth side that couples to a single processing chamber, the fifth side adjacent to the second side.
 10. The transfer chamber of claim 1 further comprising a sixth side that couples to a load lock chamber, the sixth side adjacent to the third side.
 11. A semiconductor processing tool comprising the transfer chamber of claim 1, the semiconductor processing tool further comprising: the two twinned processing chambers coupled to the first elongated side of the transfer chamber, the two twinned processing chambers configured to share chemical or gas delivery resources; the single processing chamber coupled to the second side of the transfer chamber; the load lock chamber coupled to the third side of the transfer chamber; a second set of twinned processing chambers coupled to a fourth elongated side of the transfer chamber, the second set of twinned processing chambers configured to share chemical or gas delivery resources; and a second single processing chamber coupled to a fifth side of the transfer chamber.
 12. The semiconductor processing tool of claim 11, further comprising a second load lock chamber coupled to a sixth side of the transfer chamber.
 13. The semiconductor processing tool of claim 11, further comprising a controller that controls at least a portion of operations performed by the transfer chamber.
 14. A method comprising: providing a transfer chamber having a plurality of sides that define a region configured to maintain a vacuum level and allow transport of substrates between a plurality of processing chambers, the plurality of sides defining a first portion of the transfer chamber and a second portion of the transfer chamber and including: a first side coupled to two twinned processing chambers configured to share chemical or gas delivery resources, and a second side coupled to a single processing chamber; the transfer chamber further comprising: a first substrate handler located in the region configured to maintain a vacuum level; and a hand-off location configured to allow substrates to be passed between the first portion of the transfer chamber and the second portion of the transfer chamber; loading a first substrate into the transfer chamber employing the first substrate handler; transferring the first substrate to the hand-off location; retrieving the first substrate from the hand-off location; loading a second substrate into the transfer chamber; and simultaneously loading the first and second substrates into the twinned processing chambers coupled to the first side of the transfer chamber.
 15. The method of claim 14 wherein at least a portion of (d) and (e) occur at the same time.
 16. The method of claim 14 wherein the first substrate handler is an extended-reach dual-blade substrate handler having a reach sufficient to transfer substrates between the first portion and the second portion and all chambers coupled to the transfer chamber, the first substrate handler configured to perform the simultaneously loading the first and second substrates into the twinned processing chambers coupled to the first side of the transfer chamber.
 17. The method of claim 14 further comprising pre-processing the first substrate within the hand-off location prior to retrieving the first substrate from the hand-off location.
 18. The method of claim 14 further comprising post-processing the first substrate within the hand-off location prior to transferring the first substrate to a single processing chamber.
 19. The method of claim 14 further comprising post-processing the second substrate within the hand-off location.
 20. The method of claim 14 wherein the first substrate handler is located in the first portion of the transfer chamber, and the method further comprises providing the transfer chamber further including a second substrate handler located in the second portion of the transfer chamber, the first and second substrate handlers configured to perform the simultaneously loading the first and second substrates into the twinned processing chambers coupled to the first side of the transfer chamber. 